Chapter 11: Multiclassing (1/2)

As dawn rose on Haudemer, Vainqueur allowed himself to rest on his back in front of the city’s entrance.

He had spent the night hunting down the last of his walking punching bags, shoring up all the experience he could. His stomach hurt from the manling indigestion.

Congratulations! For crushing the Scorchers and stylishly stomping on the enemy leader before an adoring crowd, you earned four [Gladiator] levels! +120 HP, + 8 STR, + 1 VIT, + 4 SKI, +4 AGI, +4 CH, +3 LCK!

You gained the [Crowd Favorite] and [Supercrit] class Perks!

[Crowd Favorite]: You gain a temporary, random boost to one of your statistics when you impress a crowd, alongside the small chance of gaining an item.

[Supercrit]: Double the chances of your physical attacks inflicting critical hits.

Small chance to get an item if he impressed his fans? Sweet! He should find his minions and try it out.

However, what did they mean by stomping on the enemy leader? Vainqueur looked under his left foot, noticing a lump of flesh stuck between two of his claws. “Strange,” he commented, licking his claws to taste the sweet meat.

The dragon decided to turn invisible, so he could see if other manling parts had stuck somewhere else. “Blink.” He was gone.

“Blink!” And now he wasn’t! “Blink, blink, blinkblink!”

Vainqueur found turning his invisibility on and off strangely amusing. He could spend all day doing it.

However, the ruckus of horses stampeding interrupted his game. Vainqueur wondered if the bandits had come for another round of ‘honorable demise by dragon.’ That would confirm his theory about manlings having a collective deathwish.

Instead, two hundred riders, clad in the finest armor and wearing the shiniest weapons, rushed towards him. Most of them wore a sun emblem emblazoned on their armor, but a few of them carried flags representing a golden lion on a red background.

Knights. Lots of manling and beastkin knights.

Maybe they had a princess he could add to his hoard?

The knights stopped in a line facing Vainqueur, who didn’t even bother rising up. It wasn’t like they could do anything to him, and he was full enough to just burn them to oblivion if they tried.

Their leader, a female manling riding a white unicorn, stood in front of the line to address him. She had these long, fashionable golden hair, the same color of Vainqueur’s own beautiful eyes, and tiny blue spots for a gaze. She wore a purple hermine. “So it is true,” she said with a shrieking voice whom the dragon immediately disliked. “Haudemer has been occupied by a great red dragon.”

“Indeed I am,” Vainqueur answered that waste of skin. “Vainqueur Knightsbane, First of his Name, Great Calamity of this Age and King of the Albain Mountains. But you may call me Your Majesty.”

“There is no king of the mountains,” the upstart manling replied, before answering with her own presentation. “I am duchess Aelinor of Euskal, second removed cousin of King Gard—”

“Not a princess,” Vainqueur interrupted her, annoyed at her forgetting the ‘Your Majesty’ part.

The petulant woman glared back at him. “I beg your pardon?”

“Not a princess,” Vainqueur repeated with contempt since the food was slow-minded. She didn’t smell like a princess, and instead had the scent of disappointment. Also, he was too good to speak directly to that creature. “Minion? Minion?! MINION, GET BACK HERE! The food is talking back!”

Where was his official animal translator when Vainqueur needed him?

The manling’s face turned red for some reason. “Vainqueur Knightsbane,” Somehow she made his noble name sound like an insult. “Our forces and the Shining Crusade have defeated the last of the Scorchers and retaken the citadel of Rochefronde from Ishfania. Only François Vilmain and Gustave la Muraille escaped judgment, and I intend to bring them justice and flames.”

Vainqueur knew nothing about Rochefronde, but according to the minion, they killed both of those manlings somewhere. “Done,” the dragon replied. “Also, your flames are weaker than mine, so no need to humiliate yourself.”

“Inspect the city for confirmation after we are done with him,” the manling told one of the knights, before turning her attention back on the dragon, “Vainqueur Knightsbane, you are wanted for the uncalled destruction of the Woods of Gevaudan, property damage, and the devastation of the local Euskalian countryside. A century-old bounty of one hundred twenty thousand gold coins on your head has been issued again!”

Finally, the false news about his demise had been invalidated! However… “One hundred twenty thousand?” Vainqueur asked for a confirmation, disappointed, “That is all? I order you rescind it.”

“Order me?” her face got even redder, almost as much as Vainqueur’s own scales. “Do you deny the charges against you?”

“No, but I am worth more,” Vainqueur replied, getting annoyed by the lack of a translator. Miscommunications, especially about their respective places in the order of things, clearly piled up somewhere. “I am at least worth one million gold coins, and I am being incredibly modest here. Tell your mammal king to correct my net worth.”

“Are you insulting the god-chosen king of Gardemagne?” One of the knights raised his spear. “You vile creature, the Shining Crusade stands before you! You will burn in the fires of Lord Mithras for your pride!”

An aura of dread permeates the area, as the weight of the gods’ judgment falls upon you. [Terror] ailment—

“Apologize to me at once,” Vainqueur countered, his patience wearing thin.

But it failed miserably! [Terror] canceled by [Dragon Arrogance]!

“Apologize to you?” The noble manling’s eyes snapped open in uncalled defiance. “What for?”

“This is my world. I do not remember giving any of you my royal permission to live in it. Also, you should apologize for your weakness, because I have no idea how you can live with yourself.”

The manling leader twitched, and so did the knights.

Congratulations! For browbeating the upstart food with words alone, you gained the [Taunt] Personal Perk.

[Taunt]: Your soul-crushing, humiliating taunts have a small chance of inflicting the [Berserk] status on their targets. You monster.

Taunt? He was just stating the obvious.

“You are an arrogant creature,” the manling lady rasped like a snake, amazed at being in the presence of a true dragon.

“I am Vainqueur Knightbane, King of the Albain Mountains, the greatest adventurer in the world!” Vainqueur boasted, showing off the adventurer plate around his neck. “I am a god! No, wait, I am better. I am a dragon! Your puny gods answer to me! They pay me to kill your kind!”

“Blasphemy!” One of the knights snarled back, Vainqueur ignoring the animal’s yapping.

“Since I removed the trees around your land and protected this town from hostile manlings, I expect you to properly pay me for the service. I demand a wage of sixty-four thousand gold coins. Under the table, according to your manling reward ritual.”

“You… you are asking a duchess for a bribe in front of the holiest of knights?! Have you no shame?!”

“A dragon will never pay taxes!” the dragon roared proudly.

Congratulations! For defending your noble, unjust privileges, you gained two levels in [Noble]!

+30 HP, +20 SP, +2 STR, +2 SKI, +2 AGI, +2 INT, +1 CHA, +2 LCK!

You gained the [Aristoradar] Class Perk!

[Aristoradar]: You immediately notice other nobles, even undercover and false ones. No more bourgeois.

“I have had enough of this,” the noble lady said, raising her tiny hand. “Knights! Slay this stupid dragon!”

“You dare refuse to pay your due to your true King?” Now well and truly angered, Vainqueur rose back on his feet, the knights charging at him. He considered blowing them up with his breath, but decided to test his new Perks instead.

Raising his left, clawed finger, Vainqueur poked the first rider to reach him, crushing him and his horse at once and with enough force to cause the ground to shake beneath them. The knights stopped in horrified surprise.

Critical hit! [Crowd Favorite] activated!

Vainqueur’s eyes widened in joy, as a golden nugget materialized in a flash of light right in the middle of the knight’s remains.

Ah.

“Aha, yes! Finally!” Vainqueur glanced at his left finger. That was the secret to gain new items! He just had to poke these upstarts one by one! The dragon rejoiced, as the brave knights rushed at him, eager to make the dragon live up to his name.

Good.

He would poke them all.

Victor still couldn’t believe it.

It worked!

That pickup line actually worked!

“Excalibur?” Lynette asked, her hands reaching to draw most of her bed’s sheet to herself.

“Don’t ask,” Victor replied, resting on the left side of the bed. All the stress and tension of following an insane dragon had vanished.

That world rocked!

Congratulations! For finally getting laid and experiencing the thrill of a short-lived fling, you gained the Perk [Romantic]!

You gain a +5 Charisma Bonus when interacting with the opposite sex!

“Very nice,” Victor said, “Sorry for being so… upfront about it.”

“Oh, no, actually, I’m very happy about it,” Lynette replied, her body resting against his. “For a second, I thought you would ask gold of me.”

Why did Victor had the sudden feeling he had just been shortchanged? “So, it’s…”

“Just a transaction, nothing more.”

Victor should have expected that from a worshipper of the goddess of commerce. “At least I got a Perk out of it.”

“[Romantic]?”